Potty-training: I could so train her now, I think. She is ready. She does not like to even be in wet diapers. Dirty diapers have bothered her for some time now, but in the last month or so she will sometimes pee in her diaper and request a diaper change immediately.

Given the circumstances of life right now, I just can’t start the training process now. But as soon as things settle and we get into some kind of new routine around here, potty training Little Bug will be top on my priority list!

Eating: We have made great strides in the eating department over the last month. She is considerably less messy when she eats. She is keeping her food on her plate for the most part and using utensils sometimes. She still prefers her hand over using a fork or spoon.

She still eats like a pig at every meal. Instead of serving her the veggie first like I have done since she first started eating table foods, I serve all her food to her together. Except for fruit. That still comes after everything else has been eaten first. I really do attribute Little Bug’s excellent eating habits to the way my pediatrician told me to introduce foods to her.

Social butterfly: Little Bug is still my social butterfly and, when I am caring for her on my own during the days, I have come to realize that this is the precise reason why she is so “high maintenance”. Little Bug is not the type of child to go off and quietly play and entertain herself for a time. Nope. Little Bug is right there with me interested in doing exactly what I am doing. This little girl loves to be around people and I don’t think there is a person in the world who doesn’t like being around Little Bug!

Independent Playtime: Even this little social butterfly has an hour of Independent Play in her bedroom every day, except Sunday. She does super with this. It is good for both of us. It teaches Little Bug she can play independently and it gives me time to spend with the Lord in the morning, blog, and get some chores done. I love that hour every morning!

Sleep: I have to be strategic with naps because if Little Bug is afraid she is missing out on something, you can forget a nap. If we have company in the house at naptime, I wait and lay her down after everyone is gone because I know she would either not sleep or take a short nap. Yesterday we went to my in-laws house for the first time in several weeks. Little Bug was so happy to be there, she refused to nap! I still put her to bed but she talked, sang and then cried until I finally just got her up. She was too wired to sleep, I guess. She is making up for it today with a 2.5 hour nap!

Books: Second to people, Little Bug loves books. Just this morning, we read for an hour straight. Even more so than that hour of Independent Playtime, I love our “book time”. It is something special between Little Bug and me. She knows right where we sit to read. I pull out the basket of books and she normally says, “Mommy sit right der!!”

Coming from a teacher, reading is sooooooo important to do with kids! I started reading to Little Bug even when she wasn’t paying me any attention (around 6ish months). She would be playing on the floor and I would get books and just read them to her as she played. The older she got, she started paying attention. I would just read to her every day whether she was siting on my lap reading too or not. Eventually, she started siting in my lap every time we read and got really into reading books. Hearing written language is so vital to kids learning to read. I figured, whether she acting like she was paying attention or not, as she played and as I read her books, she was at least hearing the written language every day.

Writing: Little Bug’s Mimi and Papaw got her a Magnadoodle for her birthday. One of my favorite toys for kids, ever. She can write without me having to watch her to make sure she doesn’t write on the walls or the carpet! She loves her Magnadoodle. She loves for me to write her name on there and the ABCs.

Learning Box: I keep a box on the kitchen counter that I call the “Learning Box”. In there are things that I want to intentionally teach Little Bug every day. For instance, I noticed she was not very good at doing puzzles. So I put some puzzles in there and made a point to work with her on those things. She has greatly improved on her puzzle skills! Other skills I am working on with her right now are coloring and learning ABCs.

ABCs: One day, I decided to see how many of the ABCs Little Bug knew before I started deliberately teaching her. I was astounded to discover she could already identify over half of the letters! I have no idea how she managed that! Reading, maybe?

Funny girl: There are no words to describe how much we love this girl. She cracks us up daily, sometimes hourly, with the things that come out of her mouth. She has a firecracker personality, but yet is so sweet and so loving. She will suddenly say, “Miss Mommy” (even though I am with her all. day. long.? I told you she is a people person.) and I will just say, “I miss you too, Little Bug!” and then she will jump in my arms and give me a BIG hug and kiss.

Big Sister: She is going to be a good big sister. She is going to have to make some adjustments, but overall, Little Bug and Sweet Pea are going to be the best of friends once Sweet Pea starts interacting with the world around her. When I allow my guarded heart to imagine for even one small moment the idea of having daughters two years apart, I get giddy. Fun times ahead!

- Elaine